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How I stopped feeling so exhausted

I was feeling exhausted at work, which at first I thought was because this is the first time I've worked full time in a long time. But the exhaustion didn't go away after a couple of months so I did some reading especially as I was already taking Vitamin D per my doctor's advice.

And let me start out here by saying: if you're feeling exhausted, there's a reason for it. The one I'm about to share that was mine, may not be yours. I am sharing my experience and am not a doctor!

I read that one of the things to feel more awake is to protect your Circadian rhythms.

We have two neighbors who live behind us who like to keep their exterior lights on all night. It is like a full fluorescent moon every night.

So I tried an eye mask to fully rest the eyes and it seems to be working. My exhaustion is pretty much gone with the occasional days of still feeling tired and there's even some energy left at the end of the day.

Before I started trying to protect my circadian rhythms I'd have to have a double expresso before work (and I'm supposed to be avoiding caffeine) in addition to the small amount of caffeine that's in my morning iced chai (it's 50/50 2%milk/tea) and still be exhausted come evening.

In the first week of trying this, I dreamt vividly all week and still felt a little weary walking home in the evening. I even had a meltdown in the second week when I couldn't get the eye mask in place. Talk about being overtired!

Another thing: don't fill the weekend with activities. Even though I slept well, after a busy weekend, I started the week tired -- and I started the week with coffee. I think walking at lunch helped offset that but I yawned most of the day.

After some weeks into the new practice, I'd have to say that it's been successful. Yes, there are days when I'm tired at the end of the day but I can attribute that to a busy work day. I don't always sleep with an eye mask on now, because I discovered that I do occasionally need some light.

I am glad this is working for me because if it didn't, I was definitely going to see my doctor about it. I'm sharing this because if you suffer from exhaustion, these simple tips might help. If they don't and you can't figure out the cause (such as a colicky baby or 2am feedings) please see your doctor!

I'm moderating comments on this post. I am not dispensing medical advice either here in this post or in the comments as I am not qualified, but just wanted to share my experience.